


Rumor Has It

by scheherazade



Category: Tenimyu RPF
Genre: 9000 words of rikkai dragging each other, M/M, and senpai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 05:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13047198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scheherazade/pseuds/scheherazade
Summary: "Don't believe everything you hear," Ryuu says. "It's not actually a date."Takuma puts away his own lunch. "I believe you." He lets Ryuu have a moment to look smugly vindicated, before adding, "Obviously, there's a difference between dating andwooingsomeone."





	Rumor Has It

**Author's Note:**

> i have nothing to say for myself other than [shakes marvelous] GIVE US THE RIKKAI DVD ALREADY.  
> thanks to mer for the beta <3  
>  

**Katou Shou:** takkuma~  
**Katou Shou:** takkuma~ kuma~ kuma~  
**Me:** You do know we both have to be up early tomorrow, right.  
**Katou Shou:** kuuuuuumahahaha didn't think you were still awake  
**Katou Shou:** always so tsun  
**Me:** I'm not tsun, I'm just sleep-deprived.  
**Katou Shou:** aww ok  
**Katou Shou:** get more sleep, takkuma  
**Me:** You're one to talk. I keep waking up to missed messages sent at 2am.  
**Katou Shou:** just thinking of you :)

 

* * *

 

"Damn," says Ryuu the first and last time Takuma lets him borrow his phone so he can check the weather for Kamakura (why does Ryuu even need to know the weather in Kamakura?)—and honestly, for all that he acts like a cool guy way above gossip and other theater shenanigans, Ryuu is just as nosy as Yuusaku. Only, he's more brazen about it. 

Ryuu is holding Takuma's phone, openly scrolling through private Line messages because he figured, correctly, that Takuma is actually too mature to do anything like wrestle him to the ground and snatch back his phone. Also because Takuma has nothing to hide: teasing only works if the victim allows himself to be embarrassed (a lesson that Toshiki has yet to learn). 

All of which is how they've ended up here, with Ryuu going through the hundreds of dumb messages that Shou has sent over weeks and months and snickering, 

"You actually like him, don't you?"

 

* * *

 

Gossip is apparently a thing they do now, what with all the downtime waiting for Higa and Seigaku to finish increasingly laborious rehearsal sessions so that they themselves can do a run through of their songs—be pronounced good by the rehearsal director—and go back to sitting on the sidelines, mocking Matsumura's benchwork, watching Nichika cling to Nagata as if PDA will stop graduation from happening, and listening to Yuuta make offhand remarks like,

"So we all know the rumor that everybody comes out of this production at least a little bit gay, but would it be a new record, you think, if Uno Yuuya actually turns Fuuma straight?"

"I think you mean Ryuu," Yuusaku snorts, while Dai says absently, "It's happened before."

There's a beat of silence.

"Okay," says Yuuta, chin propped on one hand and shit-eating grin now firmly in place. "Back up, both of you." He twirls his racquet, lets it waver mid-air for a moment before pointing straight at Yuusaku. "What's this about Ryuu?"

Dai goes back to braiding a discarded piece of grip tape. Yuusaku says, 

"Ryuu has a thing for Fuuma. Excuse me, Fuuma-tan." He glances over at the other side of the rehearsal hall. Fuuma is sitting a little ways off from the main group and staring into space. "I think they're going on a date this weekend."

"Yeah, you and half the Twittersphere. You call that gossip?"

"I call it impartial observation, my friend."

"Friends can go on dates," Dai suggests. 

Takuma raises an eyebrow, and Yuuta points at Dai. "All right, your turn. What do you mean it's happened before?"

"Just things I've heard."

"From who?"

"We're young," Dai says instead of answering the question. "We're spending a lot of time together. It's not just character bleed. But you get scared, you overcorrect a little too hard and next thing you know, you're married with two kids, a mortgage, and some nameless regrets."

Dai goes quiet as he works out a tricky knot in the middle of his grip tape braid. Yuusaku and Takuma exchange a look. Yuuta says, "Sounds like someone who just couldn't hack it."

"You shouldn't disrespect your senpai."

"And who might that be?"

Dai shrugs. "No one that matters now, I guess." He does some kind of knot with his braid, turns it over, continues the pattern. "It's kind of sad. It messes up the entire group dynamic, when two of your friends can't be in the same room together anymore."

"You're really not gonna name names?" Yuuta sounds bored. 

Yuusaku says, "Okay, but maybe whoever you're talking about was just born that way." At Yuuta's sidelong glance, Yuusaku adds, "It's been known to happen."

Dai puts his crafting aside. "I suppose it depends on how you define it."

"Define what?"

"You've both lost me," Yuuta drawls, definitely bored now.

Dai says, "Does sleeping with your male best friend make you gay? Or just open-minded?" He picks himself up off the floor, stretching his arms. "Maybe there's a generational gap thing. The old guard thought being emotionally and sexually drawn to men was pretty gay."

"And when you say old guard, you mean…?"

"First season Rikkai cast."

"How do you know all this?" Takuma asks, same time Yuuta says, "Now you're just making shit up. Nakagauchi-senpai barely even talked to you when we went out to dinner."

Dai picks up his racquet. "He's not our only senpai."

Yuusaku's eyebrows go up, and even Yuuta looks a little surprised by that. But before he can ask who, exactly, is supplying Dai with gossip of years gone by, they're called up for practice and the topic is lost to the opening chords of a song.

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** whatcha laughing about  
**Katou Shou:** you keep looking over at us  
**Katou Shou:** is it super secret rikkai clique gossip  
**Katou Shou:** takkumaaaaaaa  
**Me:** Why are you texting me in the middle of rehearsal. Don't you guys have a group number to practice.  
**Katou Shou:** because you're all the way over there and i'm over here  
**Katou Shou:** come over here  
**Me:** It would be rude to just leave in the middle of a team meeting.  
**Katou Shou:** you're not meeting you're watching taka do racquet tricks  
**Me:** Yes. Character development meeting.  
**Katou Shou:** haha  
**Katou Shou:** come over here and watch seichan do his  
**Katou Shou:** opposition research :)  
**Me:** You're such a weirdo.  
**Katou Shou:** haha

 

* * *

 

Fact: Toshiki and Yuuta like to hit up the clubs whenever they have a couple days off. Takuma went with them, once, and realized about thirty minutes into the endeavour that he'd vastly overestimated his interest in watching Yuuta smirking at girls cooing over Toshiki's delicate looks. 

He wonders when they ever find time for actual sleep, because sleeping around really doesn't count. If anything, he imagines it'd be counterproductive. Probably. 

He knows Shougo goes with them sometimes, presumably to make sure they make it back in one piece. He knows they've never invited Dai. Taka has better things to do with his life, or so he says.

Meanwhile Yuusaku claims that, having gone clubbing with Toshiki the one time, he was subsequently disinvited from all such future excursions. 

"I'd never speak ill of a friend," he'll say if you ask him. "But the sad truth is that some people just can't handle this much game."

Ryuu, having also been present at this particular outing, is the only person who might have been able to deny or verify. He does neither. The first time Yuusaku tells his story, Ryuu just starts laughing and doesn't stop, not even when he leaves the room, and they can hear him laughing all the way down the hall until the sound is lost, finally, in the general noise emanating from the Seigaku dressing room. 

 

* * *

 

"We're not a clique," Shougo says. Next to him, Taka tosses a piece of popcorn over Yuusaku's head, aiming for Yuuta; Dai snatches it out of the air without even taking his eyes off his phone, chucks it back and hits Yuusaku instead. Shougo sighs; Yuusaku glances up from his lunch just in time to see Ryuu throw a gummy candy at Toshiki. It lands next to his plate. Toshiki looks at Ryuu, who points at Takuma, which makes everyone roll their eyes.

Later, Toshiki says, "Of course we're not a clique. Girls form cliques." A smile that almost makes Takuma contest the statement. "But that's about the only difference between a clique and a gang."

"You know it, homies," Ryuu intones, catching the tail end of the conversation as he walks by and making Yuusaku burst into laughter.

 

* * *

 

Because here's the thing about Yuusaku: he mocks Toshiki constantly—but he's also the one who gets away with it constantly. Initially Takuma thought Yuusaku secretly hated all of them, given the mocking and the politely disbelieving expression he's wearing at any given time. Half a year later, he's realized, no, Yuusaku doesn't secretly hate them: Yuusaku secretly loves all of them. 

And that, truth be told, is probably Kawasaki Yuusaku's deepest, darkest secret that he'd like to think he'll be able to take with him to the grave.

 

* * *

 

"Smile for the camera!"

Takuma hears the shutter sound before he even sees the phone, and before he's had a chance to react to either, Shou is already laughing at whatever photo he just took.

"Delete that," Takuma says reflexively. 

"Nope."

"Let me see it."

"Check Twitter in two minutes." Shou taps busily at his phone, wriggles out of the way like a six-year-old when Takuma tries to get a look over his shoulder.

Takuma sighs. "Can you please stop posting photos of my bad angle? The lighting's awful in here."

"That's what filters are for," Shou says blithely. "And you don't have bad angles."

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** i won't tweet the pic if you really don't want me to  
**Me:** Sounds fake.  
**Katou Shou:** no really!!!  
**Katou Shou:** takkumaaaaaaaa  
**Katou Shou:** do you not want me to  
**Me:** Oversharing is kind of your brand, isn't it.  
**Me:** Do what you got to do to keep the fans happy.  
**Katou Shou:** i want you to be happy too :)  
**Katou Shou:** and you look happy in this pic  
**Katou Shou:** so everyone should see it!  
**Katou Shou:** so i'm posting it ok?  
**Katou Shou:** ok

 

* * *

 

"They've been using this same rehearsal hall for years," Dai says distractedly; most of his attention is on the candy wrappers Taka had given him, and which he's now folding into flowers. "Sometimes I think about all the things that have happened here."

"Like what?" Takuma asks cautiously. 

Taka plops down next to him with a cheerful nod, pops a piece of gum—"Practice, you know?"—and adds another wrapper to the small pile Dai has going now. 

Dai continues folding. "They used to leave their coats and things by the emergency stairwell. It's kind of a closed off area. Not that anything really untoward happened, but certainly conversations. Possibly things that changed lives." Dai sets aside a folded lily. "Strange to think about meeting your soulmate behind an emergency stairwell, of all places."

Taka blinks. "Who are you talking about?"

"Just something I heard from senpai," Dai says, and starts folding a rose.

 

* * *

 

"Don't believe everything you hear," Ryuu says. "It's not actually a date."

Takuma puts away his own lunch. "I believe you." He lets Ryuu have a moment to look smugly vindicated, before adding, "Obviously, there's a difference between dating and _wooing_ someone."

Next to him, Yuusaku nearly chokes on a bite of rice. 

 

* * *

 

To hear Seigaku tell it, being in Tenimyu is basically like being a member of a secret society. People who get you. People who share the same nostalgic memories and embarrassing stories. People you can call on to bail you out.

"Metaphorically or literally?"

"Maybe both."

Ryuu seems amused by the whole idea. "I mean, isn't that basically the whole industry? It all runs on little in-groups and cliques."

"I don't know." Yuusaku looks thoughtful. "Nothing wrong with an informal OB network."

Yuuta scoffs at that. "Feels more like a family reunion, if you ask me. Embarrassing relatives you'd rather not talk about and all."

"Cynic," Ryuu laughs.

"Just being realistic," Yuuta says, and Takuma privately wonders what kind of family he has that he'd think so little of a connection like that. 

 

* * *

 

The first voice message in the chat, from months ago, consists of Shou singing the dumb Totoro song with the lyrics swapped out for his name and some nonsensical string of syllables devolving into laughter.

The second one is Shou (as he explains in the first four seconds of the six-second message) being too lazy to type out what he wanted to say, which was: "We haven't taken a selfie in two weeks!"

The next one is a reprise of the Totoro song.

The one after that is, "Hiiiiiiii, what are you up to?"

At which point Takuma gave up on typing, hit the mic button, and replied, "Regretting giving you my phone number, is what."

The three-second response after that is just Shou laughing.

 

* * *

 

"We don't have to be best friends to be a good cast," Toshiki says with rare unvarnished honesty. Takuma would be more surprised by it if he hadn't already figured Toshiki out: the cynicism and simpering are two sides of the same coin. Professionalism, by one name. Toshiki has no time for pretending that things are anything but what they are, which is why nobody is surprised by his statements like, 

"All that matters is what people believe. And that's about performance."

"True that," Yuuta intones. 

"It'd be nice, though," Yuusaku says, after Toshiki has left. Ryuu raises an eyebrow. "Just saying. Having a good atmosphere in the dressing room isn't anything to sneeze that. Seeing as we're living and breathing the same air twelve to twenty hours a day for the next however long."

"It wouldn't totally suck," Taka muses, "if we didn't totally piss each other off."

"Do we piss each other off?" Shougo asks, sounding vaguely concerned. "I mean, we've had our share of disagreements…"

"No different from last season's cast," Dai says without looking up from his sketchbook.

"Here we go again," Yuuta mutters under his breath.

Taka bolts upright in his seat with borderline unholy glee. "Yes! Horror story time!"

"Horror story?" Shougo sounds genuinely concerned now.

"Dai has all this dirt on senpai," Taka says, grinning fit to burst. "Like, why the old cast don't talk to each other anymore, who's sleeping with who, all the legendary shit."

"You make it sound so dramatic," Ryuu says.

"It _is_ so dramatic." Taka gestures toward Dai. "Go on. You were saying about last season's cast?"

"They hated each other." Dai's pencil scratches steadily across the page. 

"Deets, please," Taka says. Ryuu feigns indifference while actually listening with rapt attention. "Was it like, a total battle royale or just weird sexual tension?"

Shougo's eyebrows furrow. Yuuta puts in his earbuds and actually checks out.

Dai says, "Mikata-senpai didn't appreciate his partner being a stick in the mud. Kubota-san got passive-aggressive about it. Mizuishi-san was scared of the captain. Everybody thought Yasukawa-san was a snob."

"Where did you hear all this?" Shougo asks, saving Takuma from posing the same question for the third or fourth time. "I mean, I've seen their performances. They seemed fine to me."

"They're professionals." Dai erases a smudge in his sketch, blows the eraser dust away. "Backstage, it was so bad that apparently the camera crew gave up on getting any good footage for the DVD for weeks at a time."

"Kaminaga does kind of seem like a bitch," Taka notes cheerfully. Yuusaku makes a meaningful humming sound. "My money was on him sleeping with a cast mate and messing shit up for everyone."

"No," Dai says, "I think that was someone from Rokkaku."

"We probably shouldn't talk about people behind their back," Shougo tries, but he's already being shouted down by both Taka and Ryuu, while Yuusaku casually scoots his chair closer so he can hear the rest of the story. 

 

* * *

 

That's the thing about people: you can never tell, just by looking at them. Or, rather, sometimes you have an inkling—but you can't really know the depths of just how badly they'll disappoint you until they do.

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** what are you up to next weekend  
**Katou Shou:** for the two days we have off  
**Katou Shou:** wanna go somewhere  
**Me:** I'm staying in and sleeping in.  
**Katou Shou:** you can stay in at mine  
**Me:** What?  
**Katou Shou:** come over on saturday and make bubble tea with me :D  
**Katou Shou:** we'll have brunch  
**Me:** You're asking because you have literally no idea what to do with the tapioca pearls I got you, and now you want me to make you bubble tea. That's what this is, isn't it.  
**Katou Shou:** why you doubt me like this takkuma  
**Me:** Because I know you.  
**Katou Shou:** you do :)  
**Katou Shou:** so come over for brunch yes?  
**Katou Shou:** ???????  
**Katou Shou:** are you asleep  
**Katou Shou:** you're asleep  
**Katou Shou:** sleep well  <3

 

* * *

 

Ryuu's taken to wandering off in the middle of conversations and turning up in the Seigaku dressing room, minutes later, when someone (usually Taka) notices that they're one member short of a gang. Not that this is much different from what happened during the last musical, but last time Ryuu actually had an excuse.

"Follow him next time," Toshiki suggests. 

"Excuse me?"

"Recon," Toshiki says, and the way he's fake smiling belies the already improbable explanation. Toshiki doesn't give two shits about gossip. In that, he might be the only one. "Since you're obviously interested. Go find out what his excuse is, or lack thereof."

"You realize I don't have an excuse either."

"Sure you do." This time, Toshiki's grin is actually genuine, which makes it that much worse when he says, "From what Yuusaku tells me, Shou is always happy to see more of you."

 

* * *

 

"Shougo told me." Ryuu thoughtfully tosses a tennis ball, one arm pillowed behind his head and feet propped on the opposite armrest. "Apparently, Yuuta considers it a failure if he goes a whole afternoon downtown without someone trying to scout him for a host club." 

"Then he'll be glad to know that we're all praying for his success."

Ryuu snorts so hard he misses the tennis ball on his downward trajectory. The thing rolls across the dressing room floor and comes to a stop at Takuma's feet. He picks it up. The fuzz is noticeably worn, and when Takuma gives it a light squeeze, he hears a crack.

"It's dead."

"What's dead now?" Yuusaku asks as he walks in. Behind him, Shougo is already starting to look alarmed. 

"Irony," Takuma says, at the same time Ryuu waves a hand dramatically, "Yuuta's reputation. Alas! It seems we hardly knew it."

"Can't know something that never existed," Taka remarks, cheerfully nudging Shougo out of the way so he can try to catch Yuusaku in a good-morning headlock.

 

* * *

 

"How was Kamakura?" he hears Yuuya ask, and Fuuma replies with a noncommittal noise. "Did you go with your family? Sounds like it'd be a fun place to go with— Ohhh, hey! Idea! Everyone, Seigaku day trip idea! Team bonding!"

"You don't think we're already bonded like super glue?" somebody shouts back, and Takuma takes advantage of the resulting hubbub to quietly back away from the door. At least he'd paused to listen before walking in. 

Somehow, that doesn't stop a voice from following him down the corridor: "Takuma? Ha, I knew it was you! My Takuma senses were tingling."

Shou's holding a phone charger and what looks like a used makeup remover towelette. Takuma isn't even going to ask. Shou's also grinning like this is the best thing that's happened all day. Takuma doesn't even know what he would ask, for that. 

He settles for, "You're not Spiderman, and I'm not a spider."

"Um, Spiderman doesn't have senses for _spiders_."

"Enemies?"

"You're not my enemy." Shou is still smiling. Takuma wishes he would stop. Except that's not quite it, either. "So, are you coming over next Saturday?"

 

* * *

 

"It's not fraternizing with the enemy when we've already lost," Ryuu says, and Toshiki flicks a grain of rice in his direction. It misses and lands on Shougo, sticking to a fuzzy patch on his ugly sweater of the day.

Takuma brushes it off when Shougo doesn't notice. "I think what your captain means," he says, "is have some pride. We're a gang, after all."

"Yup," Taka agrees over Yuuta's snickering. "And I don't know if Fuuma's really cut out to be an ane-san."

 

* * *

 

Dai is drawing on a beat up tennis ball that Ryuu left in the dressing room. "I think people mistake proximity for friendship. It's easy to be close with someone when you spend every day together. It's harder to keep in touch when you actually have to make an effort. 

"People talk about the alumni effect, but there's plenty of people who take their start from this production and never look back. There's no reason to, when there's nothing real to look back on. You know?" 

Dai finishes decorating the tennis ball. He holds it up for Takuma to see. Takuma has no opinion on the abstract lines covering green fuzz; he nods approvingly anyway. Dai caps the black sharpie, takes out a red one to add highlights to his design.

Dai says, "Taka calls them horror stories, but really, it's just how things go when you don't put in the necessary work."

 

* * *

 

The voice message clocks in at one minute, twenty-seven seconds. It'd taken him most of the evening, between figuring out how to record hands-free and hurriedly cancelling send on bad takes to start over again. He probably could have just gone with the first attempt. It's not like the recipient would have noticed or cared about a dull note in the middle of a chord progression, if he even knows what that is. But Takuma believes in doing things right. So that's what he's going to do. The rest is irrelevant.

 

* * *

 

"You wrote me a song," Shou says, delighted, and his only redeeming quality right now is that he at least saved this for a rare moment when nobody else is around. 

"No," Takuma corrects him. "I _covered_ a song. Haven't you ever heard of Michael Jackson?"

"Of course I have." Shou makes a claw with one hand. "Thriller, right?" He pauses, looks at his own hand. "You think Michael Jackson was a Higa fan?"

"Get the hell away from me," Takuma says, and unclear whether Shou even hears it, given how hard he's laughing at his own dumb joke.

 

* * *

 

"It's about expectations," Toshiki says, matter-of-fact. "If you don't expect things to never change, you handle it better when they do. If you're not looking for a unicorn, you won't be disappointed when one doesn't appear."

"Hate to break it to you," Yuuta says, walking in mid-conversation, as is his wont. "But unicorns are only into virginal maidens."

"So I never had a shot. Yes, thank you."

"No, you probably had a shot at one point. But now you're disqualified on both counts."

Yuuta smirks for the benefit of his audience: Takuma, who's not going to give him the satisfaction, and Taka, who nearly falls off the sofa trying to contain his laughter. From the corner of his vision, Takuma sees Toshiki roll his eyes. 

Toshiki obliges anyway, when Yuuta holds out his hand for a low high-five: a joke acknowledged and accepted.

"Can't believe they're actually friends," Taka says later, watching Yuuta whispering something into Toshiki's ear.

Friends, Takuma doesn't know about that. But he isn't in the least surprised that Oosumi Yuuta and Tateishi Toshiki find each other entertaining.

 

* * *

 

Ryuu mentions off-hand, "You don't like Yuuta much, do you?"

Not even a little, but there's no rule saying they all have to be best friends. "Oosumi-san thinks he's hot shit," is what Takuma says instead, and that's when Ryuu starts laughing. 

"Takuma, _you_ think you're hot shit."

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** if tezuka worked at a burger joint  
**Katou Shou:** "echizen, become the griller of seigaku"  
**Katou Shou:** if tezuka was a mob boss  
**Katou Shou:** "echizen, become the killer of seigaku"  
**Me:** What the hell  
**Katou Shou:** tezuka moonwalking across a tennis court  
**Katou Shou:** echizen!! become the thriller of seigaku!!!  
**Me:** No omg  
**Me:** That doesn't even make sense.  
**Katou Shou:** thrillaaaaaaaaaa  
**Katou Shou:** thriiiiillllaaaa niiiiight  
**Me:** Good night.  
**Katou Shou:** good night :)

 

* * *

 

"You think Toshiki's agency has those rules about whether he's allowed to date people? Like, officially or otherwise."

"How exactly does one unofficially date another person?"

"I meant the rules." Ryuu snags Taka's chair and kicks his feet up on Yuusaku's. "Our captain's the type to go after exactly what he wants, right? He's not one for fronting. I mean," Ryuu snorts, "yeah, I know he's basically ninety percent front, but not about that kinda thing. You've seen him and Yuuta out on the town."

"Couldn't unsee it even if I wanted to." Takuma pauses. "Why? You think him and Yuuta…?"

"What? Oh, hell no." Ryuu starts laughing at the idea. "Toshiki needs to be the center of his own universe, and Yuuta's got no time for anyone he can't see when he looks in the mirror. And his mirror isn't that big. If you know what I mean." 

"I don't think I do."

"Remember that time he went clubbing with Yuusaku?" 

"You mean the time you had dirt and refused to share?"

"Yeah," says Ryuu agreeably. "Toshiki won't go out with Yuusaku anymore because they totally made out, and it wasn't even like, for anyone's benefit."

"They— _What?_ "

"You know Yuusaku," Ryuu snickers. "He's got real game."

Takuma opens his mouth. Closes it. Lets the thought settle—decides it's really more of the unsettling kind, and says, "I regret asking."

"It just got me thinking, you know." Ryuu laces his hands behind his head, grinning up at the ceiling. "Yuusaku actually digs Toshiki's aesthetic thing, even if he can see right through it. People are weird like that."

 

* * *

 

Maybe it's because Ryuu pointed it out, but it does become more obvious, the way Toshiki's unspoken boundaries don't seem to apply to certain people. 

But then, spend enough time in uncomfortably close proximity with the same group of people, day in, day out, and you start to lose all sense of personal space. 

For example: Ryuu trying on Takuma's coat. Ryuu asking him where he got his shoes. Ryuu rooting through Takuma's closet the one time he comes over—not to steal anything, just to look—and Takuma doesn't really think to ask why until days later when Taka says,

"Ryuu-chan admires your sense of style."

"My what?"

"Not saying he's right or anything, but I think he thinks it's what Fuuma would be into." 

"Sadamoto Fuuma is not into me."

"Well, obviously. And thank god. You two would be a disaster." Taka opens another pack of gum. "No offense, but like, your dates would just be hours of cold silence and then maybe a piano-guitar duet. Boring." He pops three pieces of gum at once, jaw working overtime as he concludes with, "I'm just saying. Ryuu thinks Fuuma's into like, the tall cool type with an overblown sense of dignity."

"I'd say thank you, but you obviously didn't mean it as a compliment."

"Nope. You need to lighten up." Taka grins at his eye roll. "Also, you didn't hear any of this from me. Ryuu's still pretending like he hasn't got a crush the size of your misplaced dignity."

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** did you know ryuu and fuuma have a thing~  
**Katou Shou:** it's super cute  
**Me:** Yes.  
**Me:** Not yes it's cute, but yes I knew. We all knew.  
**Katou Shou:** and you never told me???  
**Me:** Step up your opposition research, hakase.  
**Katou Shou:** well i have some data for you :)  
**Katou Shou:** fuuma had to get his racquet restrung  
**Katou Shou:** apparently he broke a string playing tennis over the weekend  
**Katou Shou:** WITH (dun dun dunnnnn) RYUU-KUN  
**Katou Shou:** it's adorbs  
**Me:** Why do you text like a 14-year-old girl.  
**Katou Shou:** rude  
**Katou Shou:** anyway is that why fuuma's always hanging out in your dressing room  
**Me:** Ryuu's always over in your dressing room.  
**Katou Shou:** uh no he's not  
**Katou Shou:** wait  
**Katou Shou:** are they sneaking off together?????  
**Katou Shou:** in the middle of dress rehearsal?????????????  
**Me:** I don't want to know.  
**Katou Shou:** wow looks like your data is incomplete too  
**Me:** How dare you.  
**Katou Shou:** you'd know if you actually came to our dressing room ever  
**Katou Shou:** we don't bite  
**Katou Shou:** mostly  
**Me:** Are you saying there's a secret vampire in Seigaku.  
**Katou Shou:** check out yuuya's fangs sometime  
**Me:** Hard pass.  
**Katou Shou:** hahaha

 

* * *

 

"Oh, of course," says Yuusaku after Ryuu finishes explaining for at least the third time today that it's no big deal, people play tennis and watch Ghibli movies and go to Kamakura together all the time. "Obviously, taking your bro crush out on a pimpin' date doesn't make you gay, it just means you're a homiesexual."

Taka is actually wheezing with laughter. Even Dai's having trouble keeping a straight face. Ryuu just rolls his eyes, and Yuuta chimes in with, 

"Too bad Fuuma isn't a pimp so much as a princess—which means you're just whipped, homeboy."

 

* * *

 

Everyone has a reputation to maintain. And it's not that he doesn't appreciate the value of good personal branding—but after months of watching Toshiki elevate the selfie to an art form, Takuma has a whole new definition of commitment to the cause. If he didn't know better, he'd suspect Toshiki of setting a daily reminder on his phone. Monday: photo with Shougo. Tuesday: photo with teammate. Wednesday: photo with Seigaku. Hashtag throwback Thursday. And Friday is flavor of the week.

"Just smile and don't jostle him," Yuusaku suggests. "He doesn't care how you look, but he'll make you retake it a million times if his face looks weird or there's some brand name showing that doesn't suit his image or whatever it is that him and his manager decided about how and what he's allowed to do on SNS. Mostly, it's about Toshiki. But, I mean, when is it not."

 

* * *

 

He returns to the dressing room just in time to hear Yuusaku say, "We should all get dinner together sometime. Before you guys graduate."

Takuma pushes the door open. Yuusaku is lounging on the sofa, flipping through one of Dai's novels. Next to him, Taka is making a valiant attempt at keeping a straight face. Though heroism is all relative. Ryuu leans against his dressing table, as his own chair is currently occupied by one Sadamoto Fuuma, who seems unperturbed by the whole thing. 

Fuuma says, "That would be nice."

"It would," Taka agrees.

"Super nice," Yuusaku amends.

"Let's do it." Ryuu notices Takuma loitering by the door. "Hey. You free this weekend?"

"Possibly." Takuma goes to his own chair. There are plenty of places to sit, but Ryuu remains standing. "Why?"

"We're thinking about going out for dinner," Ryuu says, and Yuusaku adds, "Nothing fancy. It's all in the family."

Taka makes a suspicious coughing noise. 

Fuuma doesn't even bat an eye. "Well, let me know what you decide." He stands up. Glances at Ryuu, then the rest of the room. "I'll see you later."

"Yup," says Ryuu. Taka throws a salute. "Don't be a stranger."

Fuuma closes the door after himself.

Taka collapses dramatically against Yuusaku, one hand pressed to his forehead in a fainting pose. "Oh, our sister-in-law. Isn't Fuuma just wonderful, Kawasaki-san?"

"Fuuma-tan is indeed a treasure," Yuusaku says gravely. "You're a lucky man, Maeda-kun."

"Yeah," Ryuu says, not missing a beat. "I am."

There's a second of pure silence. 

Ryuu looks from Taka to Yuusaku to Takuma—who considers pointing out that he hasn't contributed anything to this current round of teasing—and, when there's no response from anyone, Ryuu just smirks to himself, checks his reflection in the mirror, and saunters toward the door. 

Taka jumps to his feet. "Whoa whoa whoa, okay, no. What was that?"

Ryuu looks over his shoulder. "What was what?"

"That!" Taka points an accusing finger. "You can't just stop reacting to a joke like that. Then we just look like bullies for making shit up about you."

Ryuu thinks about it for a second. "Nah. You're fine." He pauses with one hand on the door. "It's okay when it's the truth."

 

* * *

 

It says something, probably—about them, or about the zeitgeist—that the biggest bombshell of the year turns out not to be gossip, but rather a moment of unexpected honesty.

 

* * *

 

"It happens." Dai turns a page. "Though they've been very discreet. Hiding in plain sight—that was a nice touch. Like a play within a play; the additional layer really insulates the viewer from reality." How he's reading a novel while formulating sentences like that is anybody's guess. "This kind of thing is usually all over the grapevine. I suspect it's because most people are terrible liars. And when you're spending this much time with someone, it's easy to tell. Especially when you're constantly in each others' space."

"Crossing enemy lines really helped him there, huh." Yuuta peers into the mirror to fix his hair.

Taka stares up at the ceiling, feet propped on the back of the sofa and nearly hanging off it upside down. "I can't believe they've actually been going on dates."

"Jealous?"

"I've got better things to do with my life."

"Sure you do," Yuuta mutters. Takuma hears it; Dai seems absorbed by his book.

Taka twists around, barely managing not to fall off the sofa in the process, props his head on his arms and stares at all of them. "Nobody else has a secret boyfriend, right?"

"It's not a secret now that we all know," Shougo points out. 

Yuusaku shrugs at his own reflection. "This kind of thing never ends well, from what Dai's told us."

"I'm with Ryuu for once," Yuuta says. "It's just a relationship. What's the big deal."

"What's a big deal?" Toshiki walks back in just in time to hear Yuuta's dismissive statement.

Taka finally surrenders a losing battle with gravity and sits up properly. "The big deal," he says, while Toshiki sits down at his dressing table, "is that things are gonna get weird with Ryuu and Fuuma and next thing you know it's eight years later and we're all pretending we don't know each other."

"I saw that in a movie once." Toshiki starts fixing his hair. "Or maybe it was one of Dai's stories."

"Guess everybody becomes a horror story in the end," Takuma says. Dai hums a vague agreement. Yuuta throws a sardonic salute with his eyeliner pencil,

"We've got some big shoes to fill."

"May our legend continue to grow," Yuusaku intones, and Toshiki makes a sound that might be an actual laugh.

"It's official," Taka concludes. "We're terrible people." He sounds more impressed than put out. 

"We're really not," Shougo suggests and is ignored. Takuma silently commends him for trying. 

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** did he actually call it fraternizing with the enemy  
**Katou Shou:** omg ahaha  
**Me:** We at Rikkai have our priorities straight.  
**Me:** None of this "tennis is fun~" weak sauce.  
**Katou Shou:** hahahahahahahaha  
**Katou Shou:** but tennis IS fun!!  
**Katou Shou:** just ask fuuma and ryuu  
**Katou Shou:** anyway that's why you guys need us  
**Katou Shou:** you're all too serious  
**Me:** Actually I think that's why Toshiki considers you mortal enemies.  
**Me:** You threaten his hardworking way of life on the road to fame.  
**Katou Shou:** daaaaaaaaangggg  
**Katou Shou:** the claws are coming out  
**Katou Shou:** remind me never to get on your bad side  
**Me:** Shut up.  
**Katou Shou:** hahaha  
**Katou Shou:** you know i wouldn't :)  
**Katou Shou:** mortal enemies are overrated anyway  
**Katou Shou:** just ask romeo and juliet

 

* * *

 

Over Ryuu's half-hearted protests, Taka climbs up onto a chair and strikes a dramatic pose. "Two households! Both alike in dignity!"

"You don't even know how the rest of that monologue goes," Yuuta points out. Takuma is inclined to agree. At least until he hears Dai's voice intoning, 

"In fair Verona, where we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

Silence. 

Dai looks up from his sketchbook, doesn't even raise an eyebrow at the four blank stares he's getting. "We're all stage actors here, aren't we?"

"Theoretically," Yuuta remarks, while Ryuu scoffs, "Not everybody's gotta be like Wada Takuma."

 

* * *

 

There's a difference between what it means to be obvious and what it is to be self-assured. Ryuu seems to be operating from a different set of definitions altogether, or possibly a whole new dictionary. But then, Fuuma doesn't seem to mind. And all of it has, somehow, slipped quietly in between the jokes and the gossip to become something almost like normal.

 

* * *

 

 **Me:** What are you guys doing for lunch.  
**Katou Shou:** what we always do  
**Katou Shou:** come join us  
**Me:** We're inviting you over. Ryuu was supposed to fetch you and whoever else wanted to join, but he disappeared somewhere with Fuuma.  
**Me:** And I'm not going looking for them.  
**Katou Shou:** wait are we actually having lunch  
**Me:** If you want. Not sure what's going on anymore, honestly.  
**Katou Shou:** fuuma just came back, i'll tell him  
**Katou Shou:** we'll be right there :)

 

* * *

 

"Honestly? That's the only Michael Jackson song I know."

Fuuma looks not at all surprised, after long association with his teammate; Yuuta actually seems borderline offended, while Ryuu just laughs, and Shougo dutifully asks, "So who's your favorite singer then?"

"Takuma, of course," Shou says without missing a beat. Several people around the lunch table roll their eyes as Shou looks to him. Takuma feels like maybe he should care more, except Shou isn't laughing—he _is_ smiling—but he isn't joking when he says, "You know what you want, you work hard, and I respect that more than talent."

"Ouch." Takuma considers putting a hand over his heart for emphasis; dismisses it as melodramatic. "Well, thanks for respecting my hardworking mediocrity."

"You know what I meant!" Shou is laughing now. "Talent is only one percent of success and all that. Persistence is what sets you apart from the dime a dozen pop idol wannabes."

Shougo hums a sound of agreement. "That's true. I would say Takuma is the most serious about music out of all of us."

"Most likely to actually make it," Ryuu says cheerfully.

At the other end of the table, Toshiki excuses himself. Yuuta and Yuusaku exchange a look. Taka leans back in his chair and lets out a low whistle.

 

* * *

 

"Don't mind him," Shougo says the next day. "I think he's dealing with some stuff at his agency, so career talk is kind of a sore spot right now. It's nothing personal, you know?"

"Not really, but okay."

"I'm just saying." Shougo straightens his cuffs, an unconscious habit when he's feeling sheepish and trying not to show it. "We all have different goals. And that's fine. It's good, probably, since some people are too competitive for their own good." He smiles at the look on Takuma's face, because yeah, naming no names. "Anyway, Toshiki is good at prioritizing. He just doesn't like being reminded of what he can't have, even if it's a decision he made himself. But he knows you're really committed to what you're doing. We all respect that."

 

* * *

 

"So what's the deal with senpai?" Ryuu asks. "Like, actually."

Dai turns a page in his book. "What do you mean?"

"You said they had some sort of falling out." Ryuu snags Shougo's chair and sits in it backwards, arms resting on the seat back. "It was like, super dramatic or whatever, and that's why most of them never come back to visit. But I went back through Nakagauchi's twitter—"

"Creep," mutters Yuuta.

"Research," Ryuu shoots back. "They do still meet up. Or they did last year. And there's the Line group—"

"Which we're never gonna be invited to," Taka sighs. 

"Well, obviously." Yuuta rolls his eyes. "They're all like a million years old. They probably just talk about their wives and other domestic shit."

"Anyway," Ryuu says, leaning closer to Dai, who's still intent on finishing his reading before the lunch bell rings. "It doesn't add up. What dirt aren't you telling us?"

"You're shameless," Yuusaku says, which would be more convincing if he hadn't also pulled up a chair. Literally. Takuma scoots his own chair over a little to make room for him.

Dai frowns at a passage in his book. "They did have a falling out. Or that's what people call it. Exact details are unclear because nobody really talks about it, but everyone has some story or other—"

"Are you ever going to tell us who's feeding you these stories?"

"Wada-san."

A pause.

"Don't look at me," Yuuta says when Ryuu and Taka look at him. "I have no idea what he's talking about fifty percent of the time."

Yuusaku makes a thoughtful face. "Lowballing it, but okay." Takuma stifles a snort.

Dai looks up from his book. "Wada Taisuke-san? You've met him, Yuuta."

"I have?"

"He came to a show in September." Dai goes back to reading. "We exchanged phone numbers. He's not one for gossip really, but his advice on dealing with conflict and other realities comes from lived experience. He's been through a lot."

"Are you telling me _Wada Taisuke_ had a tortured relationship and dramatic breakup with a cast mate and after years of living with his regrets came down like some mountain guru to guide you through your own hero's journey?" Yuuta lifts the book from Dai's hands. "Because that sounds real fake."

Dai gives Yuuta a flat look. "So you do remember him."

"Yeah, and on a scale of one to soft, Taisuke-san is Seichan. I mean, Takuma could probably take him in a fight. No offense."

"None taken." Only noted.

"Taisuke-san is a nice person. But that doesn't necessarily save you from drama. Being a bystander can be just as difficult as being the guilty party." Dai holds out his hand for his book.

Yuuta holds it over his shoulder, out of reach. "Uh-uh. What the hell has he been telling you about old Rikkai? And how do you even know it's accurate? Didn't they only overlap by like, a couple shows?"

"Yeah," says Ryuu. "I thought the B cast basically didn't talk at all anymore."

Taka tilts his head. "That what Nishimura-san told you?"

"They're not close," Dai says. "But I don't think it's anything dramatic. Their careers diverged pretty sharply after Tenimyu. You know how it was."

"Back in the good old days when your only options were shitty emo theater or softcore porn." Yuusaku somehow manages to keep a perfectly straight face. "Long live senpai's BL dramas."

"Have you actually seen any of them?" Taka asks.

Yuusaku gives him a look. "Have _you?_ "

"I don't really want to know any of your porn viewing habits," Ryuu says, just as Toshiki opens the dressing room door and stops dead at this line of conversation.

Taka grins. "Sup, captain."

"Media director wants all of us for a photo op and right now it's just me and Shougo." Toshiki throws the door open the rest of the way. "Leave your porn where nobody's going to find it and get your asses over there."

Dai gives his book one last look of regret. Taka follows him out the door, and Takuma hears Yuusaku ask Toshiki, "You never watch porn?"

"Just the stuff Yuuta's in."

Yuuta flips him off without even looking away from the mirror. They can hear Yuusaku laughing out in the corridor, Toshiki's voice a faint counterpoint. 

"My question still hasn't been answered, you know," Ryuu says to no one in particular. "What the hell actually happened to first season Rikkai?"

"They got old, probably." Yuuta checks his reflection one last time, tosses Dai's book onto his dresser and walks away. "Happens to the best of us."

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** hey 30 isn't that old  
**Katou Shou:** aren't 30s supposed to be like the best age for male actors anyway  
**Me:** How should I know. You're the one who wants to act.  
**Katou Shou:** right, so trust me :)  
**Katou Shou:** we've got lots of time before we're grandpas  
**Me:** I can't imagine some people at 30. Toshiki is going to be 22 forever, or die trying.  
**Katou Shou:** hahahahahahahahahahaha  
**Katou Shou:** i've heard you can celebrate your 22nd bday up to 7 times  
**Me:** I'm celebrating my 23rd properly, thanks.  
**Katou Shou:** noted  
**Me:** What are you planning.  
**Katou Shou:** who says i'm planning anything  
**Katou Shou:** maybe i'm planning your 30th bday  
**Me:** Shut the hell up.  
**Katou Shou:** hahahahahahahahaha  
**Katou Shou:** jk i'll let you plan it yourself  
**Katou Shou:** but invite me ok  
**Me:** I don't plan that far ahead.  
**Katou Shou:** why not?  
**Me:** Feels like inviting bad luck.  
**Katou Shou:** nah  
**Katou Shou:** look, i'm planning a huge party for my 30th and you're invited  
**Katou Shou:** mark your calendar  
**Katou Shou:** we're both gonna be around a long long time

 

* * *

 

"My plan?" Ryuu gives him a blank look. "What, you mean like, where are we going next week? If you're looking for a good date spot—"

"I just meant, what's your long-term plan. For this whole thing with Fuuma."

Ryuu tilts his head. "How long-term are we talking here?" 

"I don't know. How long-term are you thinking?"

For some reason, that makes Ryuu laugh. It starts off as a chuckle, but after a couple seconds, it's a full-on belly laugh. Takuma feels like he's definitely missed the punchline.

"Sorry," Ryuu manages, finally. "I'm not laughing at you, honest. But—what long-term plan is there? This kind of thing only ever ends one of two ways: you break up, or you get married." Ryuu grins at his splutter. "And yeah, I like him and all, but it's not like I'm planning to make an honest woman of Fuuma-tan."

"So you're already planning for the breakup. That's cheerful."

"It is what it is," Ryuu says. "It's a lot, you know, what happens between now and whatever's next. That's the good part. And that's the whole point."

 

* * *

 

"Hey." Toshiki finds him in the dressing room, fifteen minutes before they're due on stage. The halls are bustling with staff, half the company hurrying down to the stage and the other half hurrying back for something missed. Takuma picks up the notebook he needs for today's ad lib, and Toshiki says, "I had to cut my warm-up short to help Yuusaku with something. Can you just check my pitch real quick for the opener?"

Takuma takes a second to process that. It might not be the first time he's heard Toshiki ask for help, but he can definitely count the number of times on one hand. "Sure," he says, just before the pause gets awkward. "Though, the piano's probably free if you want to use it—"

"No. Matsumura's doing scales with Nagata so it's probably just going to devolve from there. And, I mean." Toshiki shrugs. "I trust you."

—which is definitely the first time Takuma has heard _that_. It might also be the last. But that's the thing about Toshiki, isn't it: he's not interested in playing games that don't advance his career. In a way, it's admirable.

Takuma puts down his notebook. "All right. From the top?"

 

* * *

 

On Saturday he texts Ryuu to say, _Can't make it to dinner, sorry,_ before throwing on a jacket—it actually looks like it might snow later—and following the GPS directions on his phone down to a bus stop that he's never used. Funny, how you can live in a city for so long and still have so many places you've never been, people you've never met, things you might one day have missed out on.

Making bubble tea isn't that difficult, according to the blogs that pop up when he googles a basic recipe. Seems fairly straightforward. Just to be safe, he stops at a convenience store to buy some condensed milk before texting Shou, 

_How do I get into your building_

 

* * *

 

Planning for your career is one thing: there are steps you can take, work that you can do, skills you can hone that'll get you close enough to get a foot in the door. There are people who've done it before, and people who can guide you. It's not an exact science, but there is a formula for success. 

People are another matter. You can't really plan for what they'll do or how they'll react. People change their minds. People change, period. Growing up and growing apart, it's all part of the same story. One that Dai tells with absentminded words and meandering observations, and one that Takuma steps through, quietly, carefully, like picking out chords in an unfamiliar song.

And still—a song you learn never leaves you. But people don't work like that.

 

* * *

 

"Whoa, wait. No. Hang on." Shou, for all that he insists on asking questions and poking into Takuma's business because you look worried, are you worried, have you been staying up late again—for all that, Shou is truly terrible at listening. And sounding sympathetic. In fact, right now, he just sounds entertained. "You actually believed everything Dai said?"

"I don't know. I'm just saying, it happens."

"Yeah, but a lot of things happen to a lot of people. Doesn't mean that other things don't or can't also happen."

"Please feel free to be a little less specific." Takuma ladles two portions of tapioca into two mugs before pouring the sweet tea on top. "Careful, it's hot."

"Ow. Yeah, it is." Shou puts down the drink to let it cool, elbows on his kitchen table and both hands wrapped around his mug. "Of course we'll still see each other, even if we're not in the same company anymore. We don't have to see each other every day. Though, I mean, you could come over more often." 

"You live in the middle of nowhere. You know how many times I had to change buses to get here?"

"Two times," Shou says immediately. "I googled it."

"You're a creeper."

"You're a good friend." 

"Shut up."

"Okay." Shou is still grinning—smiling—and honestly, that's more embarrassing than this entire conversation. "Seriously, though. I've heard the stories, too. But you don't have to believe the worst-case scenario, you know? Just look at my senpai for example—"

"Um, I've heard stories about your senpai."

"All good things, I'm sure."

"Sure."

"A lot of them are still really close. It's not an act. I mean, some of them haven't worked together in like half a decade, but they still see each other all the time."

"Again: I've heard the rumors about your senpai."

"Well, I can't officially confirm or deny anything," Shou says, just as Takuma tries to take a sip from his mug. "But just because people aren't legally married doesn't mean they're not committed."

Takuma nearly spits out his tea. Shou starts laughing—laughs harder when Takuma glares at him. 

"Careful," Shou manages between giggles. "The tea's hot."

"Don't steal my line. And it's not hot anymore."

"It's good," Shou says after he's taken a long gulp. "You really are a good cook."

"I don't think boiling tea and tapioca counts as cooking."

"Sure it does. And hey, there's an idea: come over and cook for me, and that way we'll see each other at least once a week." 

"Uh, what makes you think any of that is going to happen?"

"The fact that you can cook," Shou says like the selective fact chooser that he is. "And the fact that I should probably eat at least once a week so I don't die."

"You should eat at least once a _day_ so you don't die."

"Well, I wasn't going to ask you to come over every day, but if you insist."

"You take that bus ride sometime."

"Okay. What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Why are you like this?"

"Because." That smile again, the one that never seems to go away. "Would you be here right now, if I weren't?"

There's no good way to answer that, Takuma realizes after far too long a pause, searching for a smart response that can also double as a punchline. There isn't a punchline, because there isn't a joke. Same as before, same as always, Shou is smiling at him like he means every word he said.

"You're weird," is what Takuma settles for.

Shou says, "You're hard to figure out."

"What?"

"You're hard to figure out," Shou says again. "For the longest time, I couldn't tell if you liked me or if you were just putting up with me. Hikaru said I was being too much. He always says that, though. And Yuuya told me to just go for it, but I mean, it's Yuuya, so." Takuma can't help it; he rolls his eyes. Shou laughs. "But I figured as long as you were still talking to me, it was okay. You always responded to my texts."

"I didn't want you tweeting a screenshot of a billion unanswered messages. That's just bad for my image."

"I don't put _everything_ on Twitter."

"I think you can safely round up from ninety-nine percent."

"No, that's just bad data." Shou starts laughing almost before Takuma has a chance to react to his sad excuse of a character joke. "Anyway," he says, "I'm glad you did."

"You're annoyingly persistent."

"I am. But you're also allowed to say no, okay?"

"Okay?"

"Seriously."

"What are you talking about?"

"I won't ask again if you say no. But I did want to ask." His hands around a lukewarm mug, smiling at Takuma across a kitchen table on a Saturday afternoon like it's the easiest thing in the world. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

 

* * *

 

It's stupid, really, to be afraid of something ending before it's even begun.

Though it was always beginning, somehow, somewhere between words and jokes and the certain knowledge of waking up to more missed messages on his phone. Sometime around when Shou decided that persistence was the better part of valor, because discretion sure wasn't getting him anywhere. Strange, really, that he'd figured Takuma out from the start.

So maybe it's already begun. In which case, it's stupid to worry about something already happening and decided if not all but officially done. 

 

* * *

 

Takuma says, "Yeah," and watches the smile spread across Shou's face to match his own. "I'd like that."

 

* * *

 

 **Katou Shou:** i looked up the lyrics to that michael jackson song you covered  
**Katou Shou:** and i do remember the time :)  
**Katou Shou:** though i'm pretty sure it wasn't september  
**Katou Shou:** we met in like march  
**Katou Shou:** which means it's been a whole year!!!!!!!!  
**Katou Shou:** happy friendiversary takkuma  
**Me:** It's the middle of the night.  
**Katou Shou:** a whole year of you pretending to be asleep but actually reading all my messages as i send them haha  
**Me:** Shut up.  
**Me:** Happy friendiversary, weirdo.  
**Katou Shou:** <3

 

* * *

 

"We're not a clique." Toshiki has one arm around Shougo, the other around Yuusaku. "We're not best friends." He looks at Takuma, directly across from him in the circle. His voice is barely above a whisper, "We don't need to be. We've got each others' backs."

"A real gang," Yuuta says. 

"No." These days, Toshiki's smile carries a bit more edge, and it's hard to tell whether it's out of determination or spite. Maybe there's no point trying to differentiate. He says, "We know exactly what we're doing, and we're damn good at it. We're the real deal." His smile hardens into something almost fierce. "Let's go get 'em. _Rikkai!_ "

" _Yessir!_ "

There's more than a bit of laughter lacing the word, but it's shouted at full volume and perfectly in sync—clearly audible to the audience through a thick fall of curtain, the wave of applause following them off stage as the lights in the theater start to dim. 

Shougo claps Dai on the back. Taka tries to noogie Yuusaku—for good luck, he'll claim later—and Yuuta twirls his racquet. A blur of blue and white on the opposite side of the stage reveal where Seigaku have gathered, waiting. In the last gleam of the floodlights, Shou grins and mimes a fistbump across the distance.

In the dark, Takuma unclenches his hand: a ghost of warmth across his knuckles, as real as if Shou were standing right next to him.

He hears Ryuu breathe out. "Show time."


End file.
